


6 Ways To Say I Love You

by elysiankairos



Series: White Noise and Ambiance [2]
Category: Homestuck
Genre: Human AU, Implied Relationships, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, M/M, but its vague, hal and dirk are roommates just for context, many implied things, roommates that occasionally kiss and say i love you to each other, theres some mentions of inappropriate happenings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-18
Updated: 2016-12-18
Packaged: 2018-09-09 11:03:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,239
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8888413
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/elysiankairos/pseuds/elysiankairos
Summary: There were many different ways Hal said "I love you" to Dirk. Over the course of a year, Dirk had noted a startlingly vast amount of ways Hal would declare his love. Typically, it depended on the situation. Different scenarios called for different tones, after all. It was almost amusing to Dirk how many ways Hal could twist three simple words into.





	

There were many different ways Hal said "I love you" to Dirk. Over the course of a year, Dirk had noted a startlingly vast amount of ways Hal would declare his love. Typically, it depended on the situation. Different scenarios called for different tones, after all. It was almost amusing to Dirk how many ways Hal could twist three simple words into. 

Sometimes, he would hear the words on the brink of a playful tone. Hal's face would shine with impish mischief and the words were almost always accompanied with canny eyelash batting. His lips would stretch into a smirk and his voice would dip with his cocky amusement. Dirk typically heard those types of "I love you's" when Hal was causing trouble out of both boredom and lack of attention. Sometimes it was after Dirk scolded him for indulging in frivolous actions such as moving all of his furniture slightly to the left. Other times it was when Hal and Dirk both knew he did something he wasn't supposed to and Hal was only uttering the words to spite him. They served their purpose, though. Which was to make him exasperated or annoyed. 

But, Hal's declarations of love weren't always supposed to piss him off. There were also times they were uttered as an apology. When Hal did something that was excessively unacceptable and he found himself facing Dirk's full wrath. Their relationship had always been a queer one and they were both prone to exploding on each other. It was a problem that caused them to walk on eggshells around each other sometimes but they were trying to fix it. 

They weren't perfect, they both knew that. During those particular months where stress piled high and frustration accumulated like some grotesque life-sucking monster, it was apparent that they weren't. Dirk would be so high strung during those times that just a single incident would break the metaphorical floodgates and suddenly Dirk would be pouring his raw fury upon Hal. Protests would turn to shouts and shouts to yells and it was an entire mess. 

"I'm sorry." Hal would say during those times. His brilliant red eyes would be downcast and he would sound so terribly small. "I'm sorry, I love you." Dirk didn't really prefer those types of love confessions because of the situation they were given. They would snap him back into his senses and then the guilt would crush him. 

However, if Dirk had to name which love declaration he hated the most, he had to say it would be the ones Hal gave when he was drunk. It was still a problem Hal was working with, the alcohol that was. While Dirk couldn't fathom how Hal could have gotten himself so hooked on the intoxicating substance it wasn't unusual to see Hal slip and come home drunk off his ass. There were occasions where he would wake up groggily to Hal collapsed on top of him and reeking of cheap beer. 

When Hal would press his lips to Dirk's in a kiss, he would always mutter a slurred "I love you." Despite how affection the words were meant to be they seemed to carry a strange melancholy. Hal's piercing gaze would look past him as if he weren't even there. As if he saw something in Dirk’s place that he did not. As if he didn’t see Dirk at all.

It unsettled Dirk to no end. Made him feel smaller and insignificant. Powerless to understand and powerless to help.

But Hal didn’t always tell Dirk he loved him to denote serious situations or trouble. Most of the time the words were spoken on casual whims. They both would be lounging on the couch minding their own business when Hal would decide to drop a “I love you” into the air and continue with whatever the hell he was doing.

Other times Dirk would be about to head out to run errands or spend time with his own friends when Hal insisted on acting like an embarrassing wife. He would insist on kissing him goodbye and crooning a “I love you.” Sometimes Hal would simply say the words because he had nothing else to say and he wanted to fill the silence. With how often Hal said the words, it was almost embarrassing how they still persisted to make Dirk flustered. 

There were times the words would be whispered out on a gasp of a breath and coveted by a curtain of night. They would fall out as a litany as the two of them would press their bodies together in a rhythm only they knew. Hal spoke them between kisses and gasps. Even as his tone began to border along something more lewd, he was determined to vocalize his love for Dirk. 

The usage of the phrase in that context was much more appreciated if Dirk had to be honest. He reveled in the affect he had on Hal. How with just a slight press or change in tempo could make the words falling from Hal’s lips take on a more frenzied nature. When he angled himself just right or took Hal by surprise, he could heard Hal’s voice hitch as he fervently whispered to the thick air, “I love you.”

Despite all of it Dirk could say there was one type of love declaration he loved the most. Those were the ones Hal would sigh into the air as they drowned each other in affection. They would hold each other close as they took turns pressing kisses to each other’s skin. The atmosphere was almost always peaceful and lethargic. With the warm afternoon sunlight shining upon their tangled limbs, it felt as if there was no better place in the world to be. Time was but a concept and eternity learned in their favor.

There was no seductive undertones to Hal’s statements of affection nor were there any mischievous intentions. Hal typically muttered his “I love you”s when he was pressing kisses to his face or pushing his nose into Dirk’s shoulder. His words were filled with unadulterated affection and spoken with the one purpose of making sure Dirk knew the extent of his love. The warmth that filled Dirk’s chest upon hearing the words always seemed overwhelming. Hal’s words made him so ridiculously happy that it wasn’t odd to see him crack his stoic facade during moments as intimate as those. 

He loved hearing Hal say the words in situations like that because, if anything, it gave him validation. It proved to Dirk that Hal didn’t see their relationship as a joke and that he was just as committed as he was. Dirk knew it was silly and that it probably wasn’t that deep but he couldn’t help but entertain the thought.

Hal said “I love you” in a great many ways. It always depended on the situation they were spoken and while he did prefer some to others it didn’t change the meaning of the words. Nor did it change the fact that Hal said them and he said them to Dirk nonetheless. There were so many different ways to say “I love you” but Dirk supposed in the end they were the same if they all carried similar messages. While Hal’s methods of declaration outnumbered Dirk’s by far, he found that either way he still loved every bit of him…. Even if he couldn’t really express it as well.

**Author's Note:**

> Well this is a bit different than the style of writing I would have preferred to use for this series but eh. Y'know. It works.


End file.
